Truck Soap

Are you washing with a brush or just soap/water under pressure?

 

Zep-o-shine for your painted surfaces and any high PH acid mix will do the trick on your aluminum, I think Zep's product is Aluma-a-brite. I have an account with Zep, you pay a lot but I haven't found a better product. Like I said more expensive but expecially their acid requires a lot less elbow grease to get a great end product

 

High PH is basic, low PH is acidic. When washing with a brush, the best I've found is just plain old sunlight dishsoap. Power wash the big stuff off, 5 gallon pail of water with sunlight and go at it with the brush. Stuff works great and is cheap in 6L jugs from costco.

 

My son uses some purple stuff he buys from the local pressure washer dealer... washes and degreases everything on the truck and does a good job.

 

My bad, I always seem to get that kind of stuff mixed up.

Anyways, if you end up getting a gallon of Zep-o-shine there is a trick to it. Like many other soaps they claim to leave a finish that feels freshly waxed, it actually works if when rinsing you use a low pressure stream of water and gently rinse it, like a hose without a nozzle on it. Getting tired of turning the water on and off continually, I rigged up a hose valve that fit on the end of the hose with a short 3" section of hose on the end for a "nozzle" that mimicked the flow of the hose.

The Zep-o-shine is also a PH balancer.

 

I use Meguiars NXT Soap with a splash of Zep Tint Window Cleaner, DON'T use dish soap, it will strip any wax you have on the vehicle.

 

Agreed, dish soap is way to harsh for use on paint. Will dry it out in a hurry.